Portable Hair-Washing Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A portable hair-washing apparatus includes a washbasin, a container, a pumping unit and a showering unit. The washbasin includes an upper deck formed on a lower deck so that a chamber is defined between them. The upper deck includes a cavity separated from the chamber and an inlet pipe in communication with the chamber. A dirty-water drain extends from the upper deck. A clean-water drain extends from the lower deck. The container includes a cavity and an aperture in communication with the cavity thereof. The inlet pipe of the washbasin is in communication with the cavity of the container when the washbasin is located on the container. The pumping unit is in communication with the clean-water drain. The showering unit is in communication with the pumping unit. There are plugs for closing the inlet pipe, the dirty-water drain and the aperture, respectively.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a portable hair-washing apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

It is difficult to wash hair for people who have difficulty in movingaround such as aging citizens and sick and injured patients. Families ornurses have to wash these persons hair.

It is difficult for the families and nurses to move these people intobathrooms to wash their hair. Therefore, washbasins and buckets are usedto carry water to their bedsides to wash their hair. There are howeverproblems as follows:

Firstly, a washbasin or bucket is a single-compartment container. Thereis no choice but containing freshwater and dirty water in a samewashbasin or bucket. Therefore, the washing of the hair is ineffective.

Secondly, to avoid washing hair with dirty water, the washbasin orbucket must be emptied of dirty water and refilled with clean water formany times to wash the hair effectively. This is however troublesome andexhausting for the person lying in bed and the family or nurse.

Thirdly, the washbasins and buckets are not devised to wash air so thatthey fail to provide adequate support for the heads and necks of thosepeople lying in bed. The families or nurses have to support the heads ornecks of those people lying in bed, and this is not easy. Therefore, thefamilies or nurses feel tired and/or those people lying in bed feeluncomfortable. Those people lying in bed might get hurt in their necks.

The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at leastalleviate the problems encountered in prior art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide ahair-washing apparatus with which a person can conveniently have his orher hair washed.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the portable hair-washing apparatusincludes a washbasin, a container, a pumping unit and a showering unit.The washbasin includes an upper deck formed on a lower deck so that achamber is defined between them. The upper deck includes a cavityseparated from the chamber and an inlet pipe in communication with thechamber. A dirty-water drain extends from the upper deck. A clean-waterdrain extends from the lower deck. The container includes a cavity andan aperture in communication with the cavity thereof. The inlet pipe ofthe washbasin is in communication with the cavity of the container whenthe washbasin is located on the container. The pumping unit is incommunication with the clean-water drain. The showering unit is incommunication with the pumping unit. There are plugs for closing theinlet pipe, the dirty-water drain and the aperture, respectively.

Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description referring to the attacheddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described via detailed illustration of thepreferred embodiment referring to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable hair-washing apparatusaccording to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the portable hair-washing apparatus shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the portable hair-washing apparatusshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view of the portablehair-washing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the portable hair-washing apparatusin another position than shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the portable hair-washing apparatusin another position than shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of a man having his hair washedwith the portable hair-washing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a man lying in bed and having his hairwashed with the portable hair-washing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, a portable hair-washing apparatus 100includes a washbasin 10, a container 20, a pumping unit 30, a showeringunit 40 and a supporting unit 50 according to the preferred embodimentof the present invention. The washbasin 10 includes an upper deck 11 anda lower deck 14. The upper and lower decks 11 and 14 are made as one.Clean water can be filled into a chamber 115 defined between the lowerdeck 14 and the upper deck 11.

The upper deck 11 of the washbasin 10 includes a cavity 111 defined witha wall. The cavity 111 is separated from the chamber 115. The wallincludes a lowered section 112. A slope 113 is formed against thelowered section 112 of the wall, within the cavity 111. A drain 114extends from the upper deck 11 to the lower deck 14. The drain 114 canbe closed with a plug 13. An inlet pipe 117 is in communication with thechamber 115. The inlet pipe 117 can be closed with a plug or cap 12. Aholder 118 is formed thereon on the upper deck 11. The holder 118 is inthe form of a claw.

Recesses 119 are defined in a wall of the lower deck 14. It would bebetter that the recesses 119 are located evenly. A drain 116 extendsdownwards from the lower deck 14.

The container 20 includes a cavity 21 defined therein, an aperture 22 incommunication with the cavity 21, two handles 23 formed on an externalside thereof and ridges 24 formed on an internal side thereof. Theridges 24 are shaped and located corresponding to the recesses 119. Theaperture 22 can be closed with plug 25.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4 particularly, the pumping unit 30 includes apump 31 and a shell 32. The pump 31 is attached to the shell 32. Theshell 32 is disposed in a recess defined in the external side of thecontainer 20. The pump 31 includes an inlet pipe 311 extending from anupper side thereof and an outlet pipe 312 extending from a lateral sidethereof. The inlet pipe 311 is inserted into a lower section of a collar33 while the drain 116 is inserted into an upper section of the collar33 so that the clean water can flow into the pump 31 from the chamber115 without leakage.

The showering unit 40 includes a shower head 41 and a hose 42 forconnecting the shower head 41 to the outlet pipe 312. Thus, the cleanwater pumped with the pump 31 can be spread from the shower head 41. Theshower head 41 can be clipped with the holder 118. The hose 42 is madeof a flexible and heatproof material.

The supporting unit 50 includes a backrest 51 supported on a frame sothat the angle of the backrest 51 is adjustable.

Referring to FIG. 3, the washbasin 10 is located on the container 20.The ridges 24 are disposed in the recesses 119 to keep the washbasin 10on the container 20. The drain 114 is closed with the plug 13. The cleanwater is filled into the chamber 115 through the inlet pipe 117.

Referring to FIG. 5, a portion of the clean water is spread from theshower head 41 for washing hair. The portion of clean water becomesdirty water after washing the hair. As a result, there is dirty water inthe cavity 111.

Referring to FIG. 6, the plug 13 is removed from the drain 114 so thatthe dirty water can be drained into the container 20 from the cavity 111through the drain 114, without entailing any pollution of the remainingportion of the clean water in the chamber 115. The process describedreferring to FIGS. 5 and 6 may be repeated for several times until thehair is washed clean. The chamber 115 is intended to carry enough cleanwater for washing one persons hair so that clean water is filled in thechamber 115 just once unless more water is needed to wash anotherpersons hair.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a person is lying in bed. His back issupported on the supporting unit 50. His neck is laid over the loweredsection 112 of the wall of the upper deck 11. His head is supported onthe slope 113. Thus, his back, neck and head are supported well whilehis air is washed.

The portable hair-washing apparatus 100 can be located on a table andused to wash the hair of a person who sits on a chair. For example, amother can wash her daughter s hair with the portable hair-washingapparatus 100 without having to worry much about getting water into hereyes or nose.

The present invention has been described via the detailed illustrationof the preferred embodiment. Those skilled in the art can derivevariations from the preferred embodiment without departing from thescope of the present invention. For example, the ridges 24 can be formedon the external side of the lower deck 14 while the recesses 119 can bedefined in the internal side of the container 20. Therefore, thepreferred embodiment shall not limit the scope of the present inventiondefined in the claims.

1. A portable hair-washing apparatus comprising: a washbasin comprising:an upper deck comprising a cavity defined therein, an inlet pipe formedthereon and a dirty-water drain extending from a lower side thereof; anda lower deck formed beneath the upper deck so that a chamber is definedbetween them, in communication with the inlet but separated from thecavity and the dirty-water drain, wherein the lower deck comprises aclean-water drain extending from a lower side thereof; a containercomprising a cavity therein and an aperture in communication with thecavity thereof, wherein the inlet pipe of the washbasin is incommunication with the cavity of the container when the washbasin islocated on the container; a pumping unit in communication with theclean-water drain; a showering unit in communication with the pumpingunit; and plugs for closing the inlet pipe, the dirty-water drain andthe aperture, respectively.
 2. The portable hair-washing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the upper and lower decks are made as one.3. The portable hair-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theupper deck comprises a lowered section for supporting persons neck canbe laid across the lowered section and a slope formed against thelowered section for supporting the persons head.
 4. The portablehair-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upper deckcomprises a holder for holding the showering unit.
 5. The portablehair-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the washbasincomprises ridges formed thereon while the container comprises recessesfor receiving the ridges, thus retaining the washbasin on the container.6. The portable hair-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecontainer comprises ridges formed thereon while the washbasin comprisesrecesses for receiving the ridges, thus retaining the washbasin on thecontainer.
 7. The portable hair-washing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the container comprises two handles formed thereon.
 8. Theportable hair-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thepumping unit comprises a pump comprising an inlet pipe connected to theclean-water drain of the washbasin and an outlet pipe connected to theshowering unit, a shell for attaching the pump to the container and acollar for wrapping the inlet pipe of the pump and the clean-water drainof the washbasin.
 9. The portable hair-washing apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the showering unit comprises a shower head and a hosefor connecting the shower head to the pumping unit, wherein the hose ismade of a heatproof and flexible material.
 10. The portable hair-washingapparatus according to claim 1 comprising a supporting unit with abackrest for supporting a persons back, wherein the angle of thebackrest is adjustable.